For me this was a good year in cycling, 14 races, of which 9 races were crits and 5 roadraces, including one bikemarathon. Highlights were Donnerstagsrennen III, where I managed to hang on to the front of the Amateur mixed agegroup crit, averaging at 47km/h over one hour, which honestly felt like a win to me. Another highlight was the German Championship in Goerlitz, where I managed to escape the main peloton and placed 18th with 25 seconds on the following riders. The Oetztaler was a lowlight this year, as I made a capital mistake of misfeeding on carbs when my body needed electrolytes and suffered nightmare cramps all the way up Jauffenpass, exactly the same compromise as last year, but for different reasons, therefore my resulting time also was same as last year.
Finally, a highlight of a different nature was the experience of a sort of comradery amongst the seasoned crit racing scene, in the second half of the season, with my own teammates but also with riders from other teams. It's kind of sweet to meet for an hour of headbanging and afterward, you meet in the beer garden for some bites and drinks and relive the race through each one's personal point of view. You learn to appreciate everyones effort to share an hour of fair battling in the race and afterward, all having a laugh and feeling got about it, no matter if you lost out on the placings, racing itself is a win already.
In general, 20.012km on the bike, accomplished over 664 hours, with an average speed of just over 30km/h, made 2023 certainly one of the most passionate years on the bike, but with only 269 active days also tells me that there were sufficient resting days amongst those riding periods. I think this may well be a consequence of racing, as you prepare for it differently, try to be rested in order to perform well and allow yourself some rest following raceday.
